A Look at the Reserve Statements That Tether Tried to Conceal

The reserves backing USDT, a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether, once included assets belonging to Chinese companies, documents from the New York Attorney General's Office revealed. 

In documents obtained as part of the attorney general’s investigation into Tether in 2021, long-running suspicions that Tether’s USDT stablecoin was backed by Chinese securities were confirmed. According to an investigation by Bloomberg News in October 2021, Tether held billions in short-term loans to Chinese companies.

These documents were first obtained from New York’s attorney general following a freedom of information request filed by CoinDesk. Decrypt has also obtained a copy of those documents from the attorney general’s office. 

Tether CTO Says 'Let Them Come' as Stablecoin's Dollar Peg Wobbles

The largest stablecoin by market capitalization, Tether (USDT), has just fallen below its dollar peg. At press time, the asset is trading at $0.996. Tether's CTO Paolo Ardoino was quick to take to Twitter, saying that "markets are edgy in these days" and adding that the popular stablecoin is "ready as always." Markets are edgy in these days, so it's easy for attackers to capitalize on this general sentiment.But at Tether we're ready as always. Let them come.We're ready to redeem any amount. — P...

Last July, Tether rejected claims that up to 85% of its commercial paper portfolio was backed by short-term debt issued by Chinese or Asian companies. The latest documents show that Tether did indeed rely on some Chinese securities to back USDT, including debt issued by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

According to the documents, Tether also held securities issued by other foreign businesses, including Deutsche Bank and Barclays Bank to support its reserves. 

Tether’s USDT is  largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with a total valuation of $83,521,892,618, and its 24-hour trading volume stands at $17,019,479,905, according to data from CoinGecko. Following Bitcoin and Ethereum, it is the third most traded token in circulation.

Tether Hits Back at ‘Rumors’ Regarding its Commercial Paper Portfolio

Tether dismissed what it labeled as “false rumors” regarding the reserves that back its USDT stablecoin in a statement released Wednesday morning. It said in a blog post the notion its “commercial paper portfolio is 85% backed by Chinese or Asian” unsecured, short-term debt issued by companies and traded at a 30% discount is “completely false” and speculated the assertions are being spread online in a “coordinated” way to spook investors out of Tether and turn a profit on its failure. Tether’s U...

In a tweet, Tether's chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino said the documents proved its critics wrong on claims, such as it lacking a bank account. On the Chinese securities, Ardoino asserted that the documents vindicated Tether in the face of “a few clowns” who accused it of holding onto debt from the distressed Chinese property developer Evergrande.

"Remember when all Tether detractors tried to convince the crypto community that Tether was backed by 70% of Evergrande," said Ardoino. 

These documents stem from an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James back in April 2019. 

Her office at the time was investigating whether crypto exchange BitFinex was hiding as much as $850 million in losses from investors, including about $700 million in Tether reserves as part of what James called BitFinex’s “slush fund.”  The case was settled in February 2021, and the two were barred from conducting business in New York. 

Banned In New York, CoinEx Returns $1.7 Million to Settle Lawsuit

Hong Kong-based crypto exchange CoinEx is banned from doing business in New York state according to its settlement with the New York Attorney General’s office.  New York Attorney General Letitia James said that the settlement recovered $1.7 million from CoinEx after it failed to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer in New York. Of this amount, $1,172,971.50 will go towards refunds to CoinEx investors and more than $600,000 will cover penalties levied by the state. James describ...

Initially, Tether resisted attempts to get access to the investigative documents from that case, but relented on June 15. In a statement on the company blog, Tether said it dropped its opposition to the request on what it said were transparency grounds. The company also said it was monitoring markets after alluding to collusion among others in the industry against it.

“We find it suspicious that today’s attack on USD₮ via both DeFi and centralized exchanges occurred on the day that materials were handed over to CoinDesk. This timing raises questions," read the blog.